By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's tennis will make its fifth Northwest Conference tournament appearance in the last six years this weekend in Walla Walla. The Pirates, who are the No. 2 seed, will battle third-seeded Lewis & Clark College in the second semifinal match on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
Check the Whitworth women's tennis schedule page for live links to this weekend's matches and tournament information.
Watch on FloCollege: All of Whitworth's home and Northwest Conference athletic events will be streamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $108 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Pirates: After two wins last weekend on the road, Whitworth finished the regular season with a 14-6 overall record and 12-2 conference record to claim second place in the regular season standings.
The Pirates swept Puget Sound 7-0 on Saturday. The Bucs won all nine matches on the day, including two-set wins in each singles match. Faith Kert and Olivia Corbett were the most dominant, allowing their opponents just one set point.
Whitworth earned its second sweep of the weekend with another dominant performance at Willamette on Sunday. For the second time in as many days, the Bucs won every match. This time, Clara Todd and Kert fought for a tiebreaking win in No. 1 doubles. Paige Olivier and Jordan Turner-Esposito each battled to three-set wins in singles. Kert continued her impressive weekend with a clean 6-0, 6-0 sweep on the No. 2 court.
For her dominant performances on the weekend, Kert was named women's tennis Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week on April 13, her second honor of the season.
Tournament Info: The 2026 Northwest Conference women's tennis tournament will be hosted by Whitman and consists of the top four finishing teams in the regular season conference standings. The tournament champion will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA DIII tournament.
Top-seeded Whitman and No. 4 seed George Fox will compete in the first semifinal match on Saturday at 1:00 pm. No. 2 seed Whitworth and No. 3 seed Lewis & Clark will battle at 4:00 pm. The winner of each semifinal will play in the tournament championship match on Sunday at noon.
The Opponent: Lewis & Clark is making its first NWC tournament appearance since 2023 after finishing the regular season with a 9-5 conference record (11-7 overall). They are led by No. 1 singles player Susanna Anand, who finished with an 11-2 record against conference opponents. Charlotte Makoni is the No. 2 singles player for L&C and Emma Loucks joins Anand on the top doubles court. Whitworth swept the season series over the River Otters by a combined score of 10-4.
The Other Side: The Pirates will again have to go through Whitman, who earned its fourth consecutive NWC regular season title and right to host the tournament with an undefeated (14-0) conference season. Last season, the Blues won the NWC tournament with wins over Whitworth and Pacific (Ore.) before falling in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Nana Vang leads the team from the No. 1 singles position and holds a 9-0 conference record in that spot. Renata Rosell holds the No. 2 singles spot and joins Vang on the top doubles court. Whitman beat semifinal opponent GFU by a combined score of 12-2 this season.
George Fox finished the season in fourth place with an 8-6 record against conference opponents (10-9 overall). The Bruins were beaten by Pacific in the tournament semifinals a season ago. Riley Bobkiewicz leads the group from the No. 1 singles position and Shanah Denham holds the No. 2 spot. The two combine as the top Bruin doubles duo. GFU was swept by both Whitworth and Whitman but split its season series against Lewis & Clark.
The Coach: Rachel Aldridge is in her 12th year as Whitworth's head women's tennis coach after serving as an assistant from 2012-2014. The Pirates have a dual record of 96-91 during her tenure, including a 62-41 mark in Northwest Conference matches. Aldridge was a four-year standout player at Whitworth and earned first-team All-NWC honors each of her four years. She was selected by conference coaches as the NWC Sportswomen of the Year in 2011 and named NWC Player of the Year in 2011.
